Window to the Dormant Jungle is a call for the preservation of nature. In the artist’s words, “The strong and vibrant colors of the Heliconias contrast with the blue mystic horizon; there is the sound of distant rivers that mingles with a symphony of crickets and frogs. The dew drops fill the mushroom cups and fill the spider webs with a million pearls... The Costa Rican Jungle still offers new species to discover, trails of the Danta and the lonely cry of the Jaguar. We call ecology to the rescue of the desperate cry of the violated virgin forest.”

The artist, Cristina Fournier, has gained world recognition for her paintings depicting birds, butterflies, frogs and wild animals in their natural surroundings. Guided by her love of nature, Fournier explains, “I work directly without the trace of pencil, in the white paper or canvas; the image and composition solved in my mind.” Her work has been exhibited throughout the Americas and Europe.

The Government of Costa Rica donated Window to the Dormant Jungle to the United Nations in September 1995 in recognition of its 50th anniversary. The painting’s message was especially meaningful in 2019, when the United Nations named Costa Rica, longtime advocate for sustainable development, a Champion of the Earth for its leadership in climate change policy.